Promise of a Rose
by Mara-chan
Summary: He had commented on what being a martial artist entailed and she had commented on how similar it was to being a prince. So it was only natural that he promised to be her prince, especially after she said she was a princess... right? R.5xSM ON HOLD
1. Prelude

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**Disclaimer:** I do not, nor will I ever, own any of the characters used within this story. All characters belong to their respected creators, which is obviously not I.

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**Promise of a Rose**

_Prelude_

_Reminiscing_

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Up on the rooftops of the Tendo household laid one Ranma Saotome. This wasn't an unusual sight as Ranma often did this when he felt he needed a break – no matter how small – from his hectic lifestyle. And lying up here looking at the moon that was shining down on Nerima and other parts of the world always seemed to relax him; that everything crazy going on in his life right now didn't really matter cause in the end everything was going to be alright. Of course, by the next day when he's usually thrown into the small koi pond that resided just outside in the Tendo's front lawn, Ranma highly doubted the validity of that feeling.

Shaking his head at those thoughts and the still ongoing antics of his life, Ranma sat up before reaching inside his shirt. Slowly, and almost delicately, Ranma pulled out the remains of an old, flatten down rose. The moon had always made him think of her for some reason, ever since they had first met. He wondered if she still remembered.

_Probably not._

Frowning slightly at that thought, Ranma quickly put the fragile rose back into the hidden pocket inside his shirt before looking around to see if anyone had seen him with the object. He didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea and believing that he was becoming a girl – although he technically does – or something. After a few glances here and there, Ranma let out a small sigh before flipping back into the room – via a window – that he shared with his father.

And somewhere out there a young girl had gasped before placing a hand over her heart at the sudden upsetting emotion she'd just felt. It was as if she had forgotten something, or someone, very important to her.

That thought was then sidetracked, however, when the girl suddenly tripped and one of her best friends nagged her mercilessly at how much of a klutz she constantly proved herself to be.

To Be Continued….

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**Comments:** I shouldn't have, but I did. Did what exactly? Create another story that is. However this little snippet of mine was actually written some time right after my first story, but I was hesitant to post it up – if at all. On the other hand, since I probably won't be able to post any new updates for an approximate of two weeks I thought I'd leave this in my absence. Though it is a bit cruel of me to leave you all with something so small. On the bright side, I did give off a galore – obvious or not so obvious – of hints on who this mystery girl of Ranma's is. Can you guess?


	2. Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer:** I do not, nor will I ever will, own any of the characters used within this story. All characters belong to their respected creators, which is obviously not I.

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**Promise of a Rose**

_Chapter One_

_Lost in Thought  
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There he goes again.

Always staring out the window nowadays.

Then again, he never did really pay any attention while in class. Actually, it was more like he was never really awake in class. Still this new action of his irked her for some reason. Although he did nothing but stare out a window all day it seemed like he was actually focused on something.

But what was it that he was looking at?

Was he looking for someone?

Akane resisted the urge to clench her fists, but the muscles in her jaw couldn't help but tighten in annoyance at the thought of Ranma eyeing at yet another one of his never ending floozies.

Speaking of which, she hasn't seen any new fiancées appear this week. In fact it seemed that the Tendo household had been more quiet than usual these days.

She wondered what that was all about.

Her ponderings were left unfinished as the teacher called on her to read out a passage from the textbook the class had out that day.

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As Akane stood up to read Ukyo turned her head slightly to glance at Ranma once more.

She had seen the troublesome girl staring at the boy and saw that even the usually dense girl had felt that something was amiss.

Deep in her thoughts, Ukyo continued to study the unaware boy.

She liked to believe that out of all his fiancés that it was her that knew him best. And that it was her who first noticed that Ranma had begun acting out of character the last few days.

It wasn't anything big or life changing, just small things out of his daily routine.

He would still take any food offered by her and Shampoo – though he did learn to become somewhat cautious of whatever Shampoo had to offer. Whenever he ate the lovingly made delicacies, however, he didn't seem totally there, as if mindlessly going through the motions of a repetitive life.

At first Ukyo was worried that Ranma had found his situations – really, when would that father of his stop offering up his son like a consolation prize – were becoming bland. Of course, anyone else that might have examined Ranma's life up until now would proclaim the opposite. Some might even be envious solely on the fact that the boy was supposedly a suitor to so many girls.

None of them would really understand Ranma, or his situation and his thoughts about it. Ukyo knew that he didn't exactly appreciate so many girls hanging off him, or how his honor – as well the honor of others – was thrown into play. And, unfortunately, she knew that she was considered as one of his troubles but she couldn't help it.

She had always liked him when they were younger, and was hoping that maybe the two of them could be something more.

Yup, she's hopeless alright.

And here Ukyo sat worriedly pondering as well, as Akane had initially done. But, of course, she was more worried about what seemed to occupy Ranma's mind as of late.

And more importantly, if that 'what' was really a 'whom'.

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It wasn't long before the school bell had rung signaling the end of the last class for the day. And after a small whoosh sound, Ranma jumped out the window he just opened.

The instructor could only sigh before shaking his head at Ranma's antics. He would usually, but often fail to, reprimand the boy by shouting out at his retreating form to use the stairs like of the rest of the class.

Lately, however, it seemed like the boy needed some time on his own.

He understood if Ranma needed a breather, everyone in school knew about the boy's situation. Or, at least, the basics of it. If you wanted to know more you knew where – more like whom – you'd have to go to; Nabiki Tendo had all the information you could desire. With the right price you could become privy to such information, or to prevent it from ever seeing the light of day.

The instructor almost shuddered at the thought of that girl and her dealings. She was aptly nicknamed the ice queen indeed.

Sparing a glance to see the reactions of a few selected, the man couldn't help but first notice how Akane's eyes narrowed before she grabbed her book bag and left in a huff. Ukyo, on the other hand, just stared out the opened window almost helplessly.

Akane was a bit of a surprise, but Ukyo's response undoubtedly raised his suspicions.

Had something happen between Ranma and the girls?

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Ranma left the school grounds, almost in a haste. He didn't mean to. It's not like he had somewhere to go or somewhere he needed to be.

Everything is as usual, but something was different.

Ever since that night a few days ago he felt a bit off. He wasn't sure what it was, but nothing has happened yet. And that's precisely what has him on the edge as well.

Nothing had happened.

No more crazy new fiancées appearing for his hand in marriage, no more jealous rivals challenging him for said fianceé's hand in marriage, so on and so forth.

The days had been quiet.

Well, as quiet as it can get with the occasional fights that erupts between Akane and Ranma or Akane and the rest of the fianceé brigade. That was usual though, but Ranma couldn't figure out the sense of dread that seemed to loom over somewhere.

Or was he sensing something else?

Letting out a small puff of air, Ranma felt rather content for the moment at seeing the faint white vapor that materialized in the cold air. He didn't know why but he had always liked the cold. Quite the predicament seeing as cold water promptly changed him back to his cursed form, a girl. What a hoot, especially after how his old man had constantly reminded him of how girls were weak and demanded a continuous source of protection, which they get from men.

And a man he should be, never mind the fact that he could easily turn into a girl – only in body of course.

Ranma's thoughts strayed.

Always back to the girl from his past.

She's been frequenting his thoughts more often than not.

He wondered what she would think if she knew that he became an instant girl with the easy application of cold water.

_A sex-changing freak?_

His thoughts were jostled when he was suddenly bumped and clattering sounds was heard.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled to another as he bent to help pick up the various items strewed across the sidewalk floor.

Silence was all he got.

Figuring the person was still stunned from the bump, or just a plain jerk, Ranma didn't care much. Picking up the last of the person's dropped belongings, he almost fumbled to keep them from falling again when the person spoke.

"Ranma?"

To Be Continued….

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**Comments:** First off, I want to apologize if I may have confused some readers from the constantly changing perspectives in this chapter. I wanted to try something a bit different than just relying solely on Ranma's point of view. I hope the resulting chapter came out somewhat adequate.

Secondly, wow. It took me forever to figure out how to continue this. Again I apologize. I seem to be doing that a lot, no?

Third, that's right. I ended on a cliffhanger. I'm so evil like that. Can anyone guess the mystery person this time?

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As this seems to be a frequent question amongst my reviewers I will answer it first:

No, I will not "Tuxedo doormat" Ranma as **JhyarelleDrakon** puts it – all rights to that phrase belong to him/her. By the way, I found that phrase comical. Could not stop laughing.

**Janissa:** Thank you, it takes me a while to write though. And afterwards I'm usually fretting over if I did, at the very least, okay.

**JhyarelleDrakon:** Wow, you're good. At what? I'm not telling. My lips are sealed.

**RyumaOmega:** Whoa, so many questions. Let's see, my first answer should have eliminated about… two, which leaves me with three left. Dang, your questions made me have questions. I'm sorry, but my answers for you are pending at the moment.

**Digital Dragon Productions:** From what I've skimmed on Revolutionary Girl Utena it does appear quite the crossover if done nicely with the Ranma ½ series. Have any stories with this crossover been written so far? If so, I would like to read them and see the plot that develops from it. I'm intrigued.


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